All Chapters of Fated in the Dark : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Rhett’s mouth crushed against hers like gravity finally gave in. There was no hesitation. No measured calculation. Just raw, commanding heat. His hand curled at the back of her neck, anchoring her in place, while his other arm slid around her waist, pulling her against the hard line of his body. The kiss burned—not gentle, not careful—but claiming. Like he’d spent every second of resistance storing up this exact moment. And gods help her, she let him. Because the second his lips met hers, everything else disappeared. The aching, the questions, the fear gone in an instant. There was only his mouth on hers, the smell of smoke and pine, the sound of his restrained breathing as if he, too, was stunned by how badly he needed this. She wanted to be angry. She wanted to shove him and remind him that she wasn’t his to command, but when his tongue brushed hers and her spine arched into his body, she realized she wanted something else more. She wanted to feel, to let it happen, to let som

The sunrise didn’t feel like a new beginning. It felt like a warning. Rhett stood at the perimeter line of Blackstone’s northern ridge, wind tugging at his sleeves as the scent of morning dew and pine curled around him. Below, the pack compound stirred. Taining rotations resuming, patrols swapping out, another day pretending everything was normal. It wasn’t. He could still feel the taste of her, Mira. The fire in her touch, the demand in her kiss, the way the bond had burned through him like wildfire the second he let go. He had kissed her like a drowning man, and then, like a coward, he’d walked away. Not because he didn’t want her, but because the moment he gave in, he felt the entire foundation of his control begin to splinter. He didn’t know how to lead while falling apart, and the bond—the triad—was tearing at the seams of every rule that had kept him grounded. ⸻ “You look like shit.” Rhett didn’t turn. Tarek’s voice came from behind him, steady, casual, but not unkind.

She’d seen violence before. She’d lived it, breathed it, survived, but this wasn’t violence. This was chaos given form. The creature lunged across the clearing, crashing into a Blackstone guard and slamming him into a tree with bone-shattering force. Another warrior, Santos, fast and always cocky, barely had time to scream before black claws carved through his side. “Get him out of range!” Rhett shouted, voice thundering across the compound. Mira didn’t flinch. She was already moving, blades drawn, heart thundering. The creature wasn’t a rogue. Not a feral. Not even a shifter. It was something else. Something older. The name came from Risa in a shaky breath as she crouched beside Mira behind the defense line. “It’s a Kalyven.” Mira turned sharply. “What?” “That’s what my grandmother called them,” Risa said. “From the Old Tongue. Lost-born. Born of blood and rage and black magic.” Mira stared at her. “You’ve seen one before?” “No,” Risa whispered. “Just in stories.” Then she sto

The blood wouldn’t stop. It ran, not dangerously, but enough to be too much. Mira knelt beside Jace in the infirmary, stripping away the shredded fabric at his side and inspecting the ragged claw marks. The gashes ran along his ribs, deep enough to sting, shallow enough to miss bone. “You shouldn’t have stepped in like that,” she muttered, pressing gauze to the wound. “You could’ve been killed.” Jace gave a breathless chuckle. “You say that like I had a choice.” “You didn’t.” Mira was matter-of-fact. “I didn’t,” he agreed and somehow… that felt right. They were alone, tucked into a corner of the room turned triage center, with supplies scattered and chaos buzzing outside the door, but here, just for this moment, there was quiet. “You were too far from me,” Jace said softly, voice thin but steady. “I couldn’t see you. I felt the bond pull, and I just—” She looked up. His eyes were on her, steady and unflinching. “I needed to get to you,” he finished. Her heart twisted. He’d bl

Something wasn’t right with the command trio. Sergeant Lena Vance had been on enough high-risk task force deployments to know when relationships blurred lines. A look too long. A shift in tone. The language of power changing hands without words. She’d seen it before; mating tension, especially after battle. But this? This was different. This was controlled. Calculated. Whatever it was between Mira, Jace, and Alpha Calder was being intentionally hidden. She intended to find out more. If there was one thing she was good at, it was finding hidden truths. She could draw them out gently or with the harshest hand. For now, she would move quietly, but if the Council needed it, she wouldn’t hesitate to rip it from them. Lena crossed the outer training field with a clipboard, eyes skimming the new rotation assignments. The morning air still smelled like scorched earth and blood. The Kalyven attack had left scars on more than the walls—it had shaken morale, and wounded more than bodies. B